Associations between childhood chronic stress and dynamic functional connectivity in drug-naive, first-episode adolescent MDD

Background: We explored the associations between chronic stress and dynamic working patterns of the whole brain using resting state MRI data in drug-naive, first-episode adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: We compared dynamic functional connectivity (dyn-FC) and screen out networks with difference in whole brain between 45 healthy controls (HC) and 60 adolescent MDD patients using dynamic independent components analysis. In each of these networks with difference between groups, hub brain regions were selected as functionally connected to more than 30 brain regions at the same time. Then we extracted the dyn-FC coefficients of each hub brain region with other brain regions in each component at different time points and calculated the average value of the entire scan time. Finally, we explored correlations between these average values of the entire scan time and scores on the Childhood Chronic Stress Questionnaire (CCSQ). Results: We found three networks as well as some hub brain regions with different dyn-FC patterns between adolescent MDD and HC. Scores on the CCSQ were found to correlate with dynamic FC between hub brain areas and certain other brain areas in MDD patients. Limitations: our cross-sectional study design does not allow us to speculate about causality between chronic stress and depression. Prospective cohort studies should explore in detail how the changes in dynamic FC appear and evolve during MDD. Conclusions: Chronic stress is related with the brain dynamic working patterns in adolescent MDD.